Equestrian Gotterdammerung
by sidhe3141
Summary: There is a reason Celestia dislikes being treated like a god. Ponykind has no gods, a fact for which those who have dealt with gods are grateful. Cosmic Horror, major alternate interpretation of characters and events.
1. Origins 1

Standard disclaimer: If I owned FiM, this would all be canon instead of just headcanon. So be thankful that I don't own it.

A/N: This chapter is set well before any events referenced in the series proper, aside from the obvious.

A/N II: Most stuff in this fic is an alternate explanation for various things in the series, for instance the origins of Celestia, Luna, and Sombra. Yes, there are things that look like they diverge from canon. I swear they only _look_ that way; part of the idea of this fic is that the in-canon sources of history aren't telling the entire truth and some of the characters (such as Discord) are putting on personas.

* * *

In the cottage, there was a table. On the table rested a bowl. Although it was a common bowl, and an empty bowl, it was still a subject for discussion.

"Now, supposing one were to slice this bowl into an infinite number of parts, with each slice parallel to the table's surface, we would have an infinite number of circles. Similarly, if we were to stack those circles on top of one another and fuse them together, we would have a bowl."

Starswirl's apprentice nodded. "Right. And the Amniomorphic Spell stacks spheres 'on top' of one another outside the standard three dimensions to produce a 'hyper-bowl'?"

"Not quite. The Spell instead stacks n-spheres 'above' one another in n-plus-one-space. I trust you understand why this is useful when dealing with summons?"

Clover closed her eyes, visualizing the possible uses of something like that. "Well, when dealing with a 4-plus-dimensional summon, you could use it as a shield, that only exposes its opening when you want to cast through it. Or, if I understand our talk about Conceptual Artifacts from last week, you could contain a summon in the 'bowl' while you prepared a binding. Is that the project?"

"Yes. From what you tell me, the Fires are simply too dangerous to have unchecked."

Clover remembered very well. The Fires of Friendship were, in fact, dangerous. They were able to melt almost _anything_: ice, stone, a pony's identity, lesser elder horrors... And they were quite possibly the only Outer Power that could be invoked _accidentally_. She could only hope that the warning she had left for the Court would not be misunderstood.

* * *

A week later, they were still discussing what would have to go into the binding.

"A constructed realm, so that they can't melt the binding itself."

A former statue of a figure* combining the various species of Equestria nodded and made a note. "Or we could go with a failsafe spell on the artifact, to reconstitute it whenever it does get destroyed. Ought to do that anyway, since the realm will open if the 'key' breaks."

"Right. Almost forgot about that. And we'll need some kind of safeguard, to keep them from melting the spell itself."

Starswirl blinked in surprise. "The Fires can _do_ that?"

"Given enough time, probably."

"Right. We'll have to divide it, like an arcane critical mass. And probably allow for it to 'leak' at regular intervals."

The former statue nodded. "Got it. A Type XVI resonance filter, combined with a sustaining matrix." Its nature as an intrinsically magical being granted it certain insights into spell design.

"Uh, right. That should work. Now how many pieces to break them into?"

* * *

A month later, they were making the final preparations. The statue read off from a list as the two unicorns carefully examined the circles they had drawn on the floor.

"Six gems, so that the aspects form a pentagram around the core."

"Check."

"Self-sustaining resonance filter."

"Check. Currently dormant; it'll activate once it has a power source."

"Conceptual link failsafe."

"Check, and it's tied to the emotions most likely to invoke the Fires with the artifacts broken."

"False invocation array."

"Check."

"Amniomorphic bindings."

"All seven of them."

* * *

And an hour of checking and two minutes of casting later, the Elements of Harmony came into being.

* * *

*The artist had named the statue "Discord", but when Clover had come into his tutelage, Starswirl had decided that she needed a familiar far more than he needed a vaguely species-ist piece of sculpture.** And so he had animated it.

**Especially since he had no idea why his aunt had bought the thing, or why she thought he would appreciate it.


	2. Origins 2

Following their success with the Fires, student and teacher prepared for the next Outer Power to seal.

"There are legends, Clover. The legends say that, in places where the Outer Powers have no sway, ponies can rest peacefully."

Clover shook her head. "Not possible. _Everypony_ knows that exhaustion is the only way to get a good sleep."

For in those days, every dream was a nightmare. Ponies feared their dreams so, that they would work themselves to exhaustion before sleeping. That was, in fact, the only way to actually _rest_; sleeping under any other conditions would cause the pony to wake up screaming after being confronted with her worst fear.

"And why should that be? Your dreams are not a part of you, Clover."

Discord nodded. "The Dreamlands are a place. I've been there, remember?"

Clover and Starswirl both facehoofed. "Yes. We remember." That had been... a rather interesting assignment, as the Haima used the word. It was one of the major reasons why Starswirl had sworn off being a Court Wizard. And a reason why Clover had renounced her place in the line of succession. And why Princess/then-Lieutenant Hurricane still flinched at the sight of pies.

Starswirl coughed. "In. Any. Case. Yume is far too powerful a being for mere mortals to contain, but we can 'break off' part of its power and set it to protect the Dreamlands. If the proof-of-concept works, others can do the same, and nightmares can be banished."

* * *

Six gems, containing the Fires, surrounded a circle to power the spells that had been needed. A pendant, set with red gems and bearing the shape of all three pony subspecies, lay smoking in the circle.

Clover stared at the pendant, unwilling to break the circle in case the binding hadn't worked. Even a fragment of the Dam of Terror was not something she wanted to be exposed to directly and physically. "Is it finished?"

Starswirl also stared. "I certainly hope so. That 'Living Dream' trick... yeesh. I'm fairly sure it's finished, as sure as I can be of anything now."

Discord closed its eyes. "No phantasmal resonances outside the artifact. If this is a Living Dream, it's a much more complete one than a fragment that size should be able to manage."

The three of them broke the circle as one.

* * *

_"But have you ever looked at your hooves? I mean _really _looked at your hooves?"_

_Clover walked through the Royal Equestrian Academy, Blustering Hurricane at her side. "Yes? At least, I think I have. Why?"_

_"It really doesn't make much sense that we'd be able to pick things up with them, does it?"_

Clover remembered this conversation. It was the basic theory behind how the Commander had earned her title.

_"Eh?"_

_"I mean, we haven't got claws like dragons, or prehensile feet like gryphons, or anything like that. It's got to be some kind of instinctive magic."_

_"Yeah, but how? Hooves aren't horns."_

_"If you look at them close -"_

_At that point, the crowd shoved the two of them apart. Blustering was lost behind a sea of tails, and Clover could only hear stinging words, directed at her._

_Blustering Hurricane had always been the more popular of the two, and if Clover were honest with herself the cleverer. Electricity inducement was not something Clover could have devised on her own in a thousand years, let alone eighteen months._

Clover the Clever awoke with a start.

* * *

"You too?"

She walked out into the common area of the house, and saw her mentor with bags under his eyes. "Yes."

"So, it didn't work? I don't want to say I told you, but..."

"Then don't. I think I see the problem. The power is bound, but it's not in use. The artifact needs a living mind to 'pattern' its effects."

Clover reached for the pendant. "So, I'll try using it."

Starswirl stopped her. "No. It's my theory; if it goes wrong, I'll be the one to suffer for it." He donned the pendant.

And then he walked toward his bedchamber.

And his steps grew faltering.

And he collapsed.

And as Clover ran toward him, she heard him muttering. "No. I didn't mean it! Mother! Father! Please, wake up!"


	3. Origins 3

After Clover removed it, the odd pendant rested on a shelf. Still worn out from the casting, they both retired to their beds.

* * *

Platinum narrowed her eyes. "Nice going, Commander Catastrophe." She glanced at the wreckage of the air-chariot that had been taking them to the traditional neutral ground of Canterlot. "Excellent work avoiding the mountain."

"Hey, if there hadn't been a sudden whiteout-"

At that point Pansy landed. "There's a cave about half an hour to the North. We should be able to make it if we keep moving."

They arrived at the cave without incident.

About an hour later, Clover looked outside. If anything, the blizzard had only worsened. "How long until it lets up?"

Pansy shook her head. "No way to tell. The clouds I saw shouldn't have lasted this long; somepony or something must be bringing more in. Depending on where they're coming from, it could be a few more minutes, or it could be weeks."

_Weeks. Without anything edible. In a blizzard. Six ponies stranded together._ And then it hit her. An old tale, long since mostly forgotten.

_Windigos._

The spirits of ice and hunger were said to be the cold stars descended to land. They fed on certain acts of desperation.

When a pony was hungry enough, _anything_ was edible, even if the memory would turn her stomach for the rest of her life. Rotted carrots, wormy apples, even flesh. Even her fellows.

And then the winter spirits would carry her away, and only her bones would be seen again.

_No. I won't let it happen any sooner than I can help._

As Cookie carried in more wood, Clover cast a kindling spell to dry it. "Hey, what's your favorite color?"

"Wha?"

"Those three have themselves to talk to," she tossed her head at the corner where the rulers were arguing, "and Pansy and I are going to go nuts if we just have ourselves. So I thought I'd talk to you for a bit."

An hour later, the rulers had shouted themselves hoarse, and the conversation between their advisers was going well. And then it happened.

Fire.

A new friendship.

Magic.

Clover had accidentally assembled the three components needed to invoke the Fires.

Gray stone began to drip from the walls. The snow outside melted into something that was liquid, but somehow still snow. With a scream like a frozen lake sublimating, _things_ with horselike faces fell from the sky.

As the clouds parted, the three rejoiced. But then they realized something: that there were only three of them.

They looked to the corner of the cave, and saw, where their rulers had been, a puddle of orange liquid.

Clover approached the pool. "Sister? Sister! Platimum! Hurricane! Where are you?"

The pool bubbled, and two hooves came forth from it.

A strange pony, larger than any anypony had seen and with a horn and wings, climbed out.

"Platinum? Hurricane? Puddinghead?"

The odd pony spoke in three voices at once. "Call me Alloy. One forged from three."

* * *

Clover awoke to find her pillow soaked with tears.

* * *

"I don't get it. Why does one artifact work but not the other?"

Two ponies and an animated statue sat in the ceremonial chamber. Parchments, chalk, and slates littered the floor.

The statue responded to the question. "I think it might have something to do with what the artifacts seal. The Fires are reactive; they come when called, melt what they can, and leave. Everything they do fits that pattern."

"So?"

"So the Fires aren't sentient. They aren't trying to figure out how to escape."

Starswirl nodded. "And a being that can find a pony's scars, and pick at them in exactly the right way until there's nothing but scars left, would be. So how do we bind a being like that?"

* * *

They had eventually worked it out. To keep up with the Fragment of the Dam of Terror's attempts to escape, the prison would need to be able to change. Only a sentient being could recognize what changes needed to be made.

So they used the same circle, except this time it was Starswirl sitting in the center. Since the spell needed two casters, Discord stood at the opposite edge from Clover.

Because the circle was in place, most of the incantation could be ignored. All that was needed was a description of the being to be drawn "down".

_"__That which brings forth painful pasts  
That which haunts the nights of our kind_

_"That which stalks us as long as we last  
That which rots the edges of minds!"_

As they finished the incantation, the candles in the room dimmed and went out. The circle glowed with a light that only the trained could see.

A beast made of shadows and death appeared in the circle with Starswirl. As it touched him, he screamed in agony and beat his hooves against the wards as he began to slowly rot.

No. The incantation was the same as it was last time, and no such creature had appeared then.

And then the candles lit again, and Starswirl, who Clover now wanted to think of as a "Sombra" lay in the circle. He slowly stood up, and his eyes glowed green for a time, then red, then black, then they returned to their normal color. "Congratulations, Clover."

Clover shut out the image. No spell, especially no ceremonial magic, was ever that easy. She returned her focus to the wards.

A candle lit, and toppled_._ The cottage caught like a tinderbox. The flames smudged Discord, but Starswirl was consumed.

Clover reflexively took a step back, but remembered that Yume could not light candles.

The step took Clover out of her part of the spell array, and the wards broke despite her best efforts. She fell into a world of eyes and mocking voices.

The circle had been large enough for only one step to keep her in it. She focused her will, and returned to the ceremonial chamber with the glowing circle.

She awoke in a faraway bed, with Hurricane beside her. All of it: the pie incident, the day Starswirl had offered to mentor her, the night in the cave; all of it had been a dream.

She blushed, but that was long ago. And she remembered having felt pain in the years since.

Starswirl sighed. "Only the wards worked. We'll try again tomorrow."

No, something had come through, definitely.

Brigands burst into the room. They rushed at Clover, but just before they could reach her Discord said "It is done!" and they vanished.

Clover decided to hold the wards for a few more minutes, and Discord and Starswirl's insistence that the spell was finished proved it was not.

Hours passed, and Clover began to tire.

Clover began counting heartbeats. An hour passed in the time it took her heart to beat once.

They had left an hour candle burning the last time they tried the sealing, and it had burned two marks in the time it took to do it last time. She counted five hundred beats to be safe, and ended the spell.

And then the candles lit again, and Starswirl, who Clover now wanted to think of as a "Sombra" lay in the circle. He slowly stood up, and his eyes glowed green for a time, then red, then black, then they returned to their normal color. "Congratulations, Clover."

Clover fell to all her knees. "Where do we keep the wine again?"

* * *

The three rulers, their advisers, and their guards began their journey. In the last of the three towns, six were greeted by three. As they made their way through the town, they began discussing reasons why that year's harvest was so poor.

During the discussion, the pegasus guard Thunderbolt looked out of the cart at a nearby field, worked by a sable mare. "I just can't figure it. That certainly looks like a nice black fertile plot."

A grin spread across Puddinghead's face. "You'd love to have those fields under plow, wouldn't you?"

Platinum snorted, and immediately tried to pretend that she hadn't.

Hurricane followed that. "Just remember to keep them watered."

Cookie smiled. "Oh, yes. And till the soil _before_ you start trying to plant anything."

For some time, they continued along that line, including jokes about "bountiful harvests", "cider", and so forth. But they were not alone; they were at the head of a parade and the cart was open to sound. A few weeks later, agricultural and occasionally culinary references had become common euphemisms throughout all the new nation of Equestria.

(A thousand and some years later, all of them but "plot" would fall out of common use. Many would suspect that it had originally been derived from something to do with narrative theory. Fans of certain old playwrights would occasionally mention them, but most would be forgotten. Very few at the court would understand why Celestia would break into a fit of decidedly un-regal giggling upon hearing what a certain Smith would name her orchard; this would later be privately confirmed to be completely intentional.)

The last time Clover had heard of Thunderbolt, he had been taken off public duty because of his tendency to break down weeping at any mention of oats.

* * *

That night, for the first time in recorded history, ponies across Equestria slept well.


End file.
